It's rising at 6 a.m. and piling into the packed family van with your brother and parents for the drive to Charlottesville. It's the clamminess in your hands and the fluttery stomach you feel as you approach the zoo-like scene of students and parents milling around dormitories. It's the sensation of sitting on your new bed, in your new room, staring at your new roommate. And then it hits you - this will be your new home for the next year.
This is Move-In Day, the momentous occasion that grips the University Grounds and the city of Charlottesville in a charged atmosphere of excitement and nervousness each year, when first-year students arrive to begin their college careers.
On Move-In Day, the Class of 2005, or about 2,988 students, flooded the University Grounds. Just over 67 percent of those moving in are from Virginia, and approximately 54 percent are women. In addition, the new first years will be comprised of about 345 Asian-Americans, 272 African-Americans and 79 Hispanic-Americans.
But these numbers seem small in comparison to the inundation of cars and families for which University administrators and members of Resident Staff must be well-prepared.
"It all starts at about 7 a.m. for us," says Justin Watkins, who is a fourth-year selections program coordinator with Residence Life. Although Watkins, who strolls around easily through the crowds in a blue oxford shirt and linen pants, says he got up a bit later than that, most senior resident staffers must meet at 6:30 a.m. to pick up room keys and set up information tables for arriving students.
Shortly thereafter, the tightly packed vans and station wagons begin to pull up to the dorms to unload everything from plastic shelving sets to expensive-looking stereo equipment.
Resident assistants set up shop outside each dorm to proffer information to any passers-by who might require it.
"They ask us about everything imaginable, from things like where to pick up an ID card to how you final register," Watkins says.
A group of RAs cluster around a picnic table outside Tuttle Residence Hall on Alderman Road where they meet new students and pass out room keys. The day is typically hot and humid, but underneath the trees, a fresh breeze pulls at ponytails and the "Welcome" signs that skirt the dorm balconies.
Senior resident Curt Hall, in seersucker shorts, bow tie, and speaking in a comfortable Carolina drawl, says he and his staff began preparing for Move-In Day during a week-long orientation session. "I am a very lucky man," he says of the commitment of his fellow resident assistants.
But despite the demanding hours of orientation and the chaotic morning hours of Move-In Day, Jen Scott, an RA in Tuttle, says she is enthusiastic about getting to know her new residents.
"It's awesome because we are really their first look at U.Va. - they've come to Orientation, but we are the ones who affect their initial perceptions," she says, and extends a petite palm to the much larger one of a first year who has just arrived.
"What's your name?" Scott asks of the lanky student flanked by two football-looking men, but discovers that "Elton" is not among those on her list.
"Our first problem," Hall announces with an easy smile, and yanks out a silver cell phone from his shorts pocket. After a quick call to the Housing Department, the glitch is rectified and Elton treks up to his new room.
But inevitably, that trek will involve lugging heavy suitcases and cardboard boxes containing new desktop computers. To ease the burden on new students and their parents, Greeters act like volunteer bell boys on Move-In Day and happily schlep belongings up and down stairwells and in cramped elevators.
"It's great to meet all the families and new faces," says Cecil Banks, a self-proclaimed 'Super' Greeter, as he tugs at his orange shirt. This title, he explains, is bestowed upon all governing board members of the University Programs Council. Banks is the chairman of the Comedy and Variety program.
Banks is taking a break after a four-hour shift, during which time he believes he helped about 35 to 40 families move into the dorms.
By noon, the Greeters and Super Greeters have helped transfer most belongings from car trunks to the floors and beds of residence hall rooms.
In Woody House, where air-conditioning seems like the best thing to new students since their acceptance to the University, many families who have never met before crowd into the rooms, and work side by side to assemble bookshelves and gradually unpack bags.
On the third floor of Woody, in one room, Lydia Koehler and Katie Nelson are still adjusting to the idea of beginning college.
Koehler, who is a native of Mendham, N.J., says she and her family woke up at 7:15 a.m. to get an early start.
At this, Nelson eyes her mother from her seat on her bare bed.
"I was supposed to wake up early, but that didn't really happen," she says. But the drive from her hometown of Richmond wasn't riddled with too many traffic hassles and her excitement about moving into Woody overwhelmed any last-minute apprehensions she was experiencing.
"When I found out there was a dorm with air conditioning and an elevator, I was all over it," she says.
Nelson, who has somehow misplaced all her shoes in the joint mass of belongings that has accrued between the beds, says she will be a third-generation Hoo - both her parents and her grandfather attended the University.
"I used to live in Bonnycastle when it was all girls," pipes up Stacey Nelson, Katie's mother and a 1980 graduate of the University.
Her husband Steve, now busily hooking up Katie's stereo, lived in Kent House and also played football for the University.
Both Stacey and Steve agree that the city and University have changed, though in a traditional manner, since their college days, most markedly with respect to the football front.
"We used to call Scott Stadium the 'Oval Bar,'" Stacey says, "and at one point, there was a keg buried in the hill near the stadium."
But Steve, who now returns for all the home football games, says that would no longer happen. "We're a winning team now," he says, grinning proudly.
Across Grounds, on McCormick Road, it's a sweaty situation. Without the air conditioning so characteristic of the newer dorms, most new students here arrive with large plastic window fans to help circulate the thick air in the small rooms.
Near Humphreys House, the pep band marches by and the Hullabahoos strike up a tune in the hot sun as first years wander around with their parents.
But moving into Humphreys is a bit more comfortable for two first years than for most. That's because Michael Banks and Brian Mello were classmates together at Warwick High School in Virginia Beach.
"These two requested to live together," says Barbara Mello, Brian's mother.
As Brian busily transfers his shirts onto plastic hangers, he explains that moving into college has really been pretty easy.
"I've been pretty relaxed about the whole thing," he says. And with a sly grin that avoids the glance of his mother he adds, "And it'll be nice to get away from home."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to have anyone to drive me around anymore," chirps Kerry Mello, Brian's sister, from her cross-legged position on Michael's bed.
Michael's side of the room seems a bit more organized than Brian's side at the moment. But then again, he's also been here longer.
"I've been here since Thursday," Banks says and explains that he has begun playing percussion for the pep band, an outlay of the musical talent he nurtured in high school.
"Michael is gifted," Barbara Mello offers, a proud smile on her oval face.
But for Banks, one of the best parts about having moved into his new home is the feeling of separation.
"I come from kind of a large family, so it's nice to be here," Banks says shyly.
But no matter whether you've known your new roommate for years, as Michael and Brian have, or whether you've just met one another, as Katie and Lydia did, the apprehension of Move-In Day inevitably fades and comes to an end.
Read More
A bite of home at Barbie’s Burrito Barn
By Sophie Guettel | 9 hours agoBarbie’s Burrito Barn is more than just a restaurant — it is a testament to the dreams and hard work of its owner.
The fluffiest Swedish coffee bread
By Finn Trainer | YesterdayWith its semi-sweet flavor and cloud-like texture, this Swedish coffee bread is a calming, delicious treat to enjoy this finals season.
Cleaning out my closet — and my mind
By Julianne Saunders | YesterdayCleaning out my closet has become more than a seasonal comfort — it has also taught me that I should not rely on school or social media for fulfillment and peace.
